Restraining protective seat for infants

ABSTRACT

An infant-restraining protective seat (1) includes a seat back (3) tiltably attached to the body (7) of a seat portion via a turning shaft (20), with the seat portion (2) and seat back (3) being foldable. A torsion spring (54) is interposed between the body (7) of he seat portion and the seat back (3). The torsion spring (54) is adapted to assume a free state when an upper hook pin (52) is at an α position. Under these conditions, the seat back (3) is capable of tilting forward to β under its own weight. When the seat back 3 is tilted in the direction of β, shock is mitigated by the torsion spring (54). When the seat back (3) is tilted toward γ and δ, half-latching and play in the back-and-forth direction are prevented. When the infant-restraining protective seat (1) is not in use, the protective seat is folded up to reduce its size and can then be stored. The seat (1) can be carried about and set up on a vehicle seat much more easily. In addition, only a small amount of space is necessary for storage.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to an infant-restraining protective seat of the type placed upon and secured to a seat in a vehicle such as an automobile or airplane and adapted to restrain and protect a seated infant by infant-restraining protecting means such as a seat belt device for infants.

In a vehicle such as an automobile or airplane, restraining protective seats for infants have been used in order to maintain the seated posture of an infant during travel and protect the infant from shock at the time of acceleration and deceleration. An infant restraining and protective seat of this kind has a reclinable seat main body reclinably attached to a base member and adapted to seat an infant, and an infant seat belt device for restraining the seated infant. The infant seat belt device has an infant seat belt, a chest-contact pad attached to the end of the infant seat belt, a tongue provided on the end of the chest-contact pad, and a buckle, provided on the seat main body, capable of holding the tongue in such a manner that the tongue can be freely engaged with and disengaged from the buckle. In a state in which the tongue is engaged with and locked by the buckle, the infant is restrained by the infant seat belt and chest-contact pad.

In the conventional infant-restraining protective seat of this kind, the seat portion for seating the infant and a seat back which supports the back of the seated infant are integrally molded from a resin or the like, and the resulting integrally molded article is reclinably attached to the base portion. Since the seat portion and the seat back are thus formed from an integrally molded article, the conventional infant-restraining protective seat inevitably is large in size.

However, the fact that the infant-restraining protective seat is large in size makes it very difficult to carry and to set up on the seat of the vehicle. In addition, since the protective seat requires a large storage space owing to its large size, it is difficult to keep the seat in storage. Storage space is a major problem especially in vehicles such as automobiles, in which the amount of available space is limited.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

An object of the present invention is to provide an infant-restraining protective seat capable of being reduced in size when not in use so as to be made easy to carry and set up on the seat of a vehicle, such a seat also requiring little storage space.

According to the present invention in a first aspect thereof, the foregoing object is attained by providing an infant-restraining protective seat comprising a seat portion for seating an infant, a seat back for supporting the back of the seated infant, and infant restraining means such as an infant seat belt device for restraining and protecting the seated infant, characterized in that the seat back is tiltably attached to the seat portion and the seat portion and seat back are adapted so as to be foldable; a torsion spring is interposed between the seat portion and the seat back, and the torsion spring is so adapted as to assume a free state, in a position at which the seat back is capable of tilting forward in a folding direction under its own weight, when the seat portion is in a substantially horizontal attitude; to apply a spring force to the seat back, so as to mitigate shock of forward tilting motion of the seat back under its own weight, when the seat back is tilted forward; and to apply a spring force to the seat back, in the direction of a position at which the seat back is capable of tilting under its own weight, when the seat back is tilted backward.

In a second aspect of the present invention, the infant-restraining protective seat further comprises locking means for locking the seat back at a prescribed backward tilt angle, the locking means having a through-hole provided in the seat portion, a locking hole provided in the seat back so as to correspond to the prescribed backward tilt angle, and a locking pin that is passed through the through-hole and the locking hole.

In the infant-restraining protective seat according to the first aspect of the invention constructed as set forth above, the seat portion for seating the infant and the seat back for supporting the back of the seated infant are capable of being folded. When the infant-restraining protective seat is not in use, the protective seat can be reduced in size by folding the seat portion and the seat back. Since the protective seat thus folded up into a small size is accommodated and stored in this condition, the protective seat can be carried about and set up on a seat much more easily. In addition, only a small amount of space is necessary for storage.

The seat back is capable of folding under its own weight. At this time, the shock of the forward tilting motion of the seat back is mitigated by the torsion spring.

In the second aspect of the invention, the arrangement is such that after the seat back has been tilted backward in order to set it at the prescribed reclining position, the locking pin is inserted into the locking hole, whereby the seat back can be locked at the prescribed reclining angle. In the locked state, the spring force produced by the spring acts upon the seat back in a restoring direction, and therefore the seat back is biased at all times by the spring force in such a manner that the edge of the locking hole abuts against the locking pin. As a result, play of the seat back in the back-and-forth tilting direction is prevented. Furthermore, when it is attempted to set the seat back to a reclined attitude in a half-latched state in which the locking pin has not been completely inserted into the locking hole, the seat back is caused to tilt forward by the spring force of the torsion spring. Accordingly, the half-latched state is reliably prevented when setting the seat back in a reclined attitude.

Still other objects and advantages of the invention will in part be obvious and will in part be apparent from the specification.

The invention accordingly comprises the features of construction, combinations of elements and arrangement of parts which will be exemplified in the construction hereinafter set forth, and the scope of the invention will be indicated in the claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front view showing an embodiment of an infant-restraining protective seat according to the present invention, in which the left half of the seat has been cut away;

FIG. 2 is a side view showing this embodiment with a portion thereof cut away;

FIG. 3 is a plan view showing this embodiment with a portion thereof cut away;

FIG. 4 is a plan view showing the main body of a seat portion in this embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a side view showing the main body of the seat portion;

FIG. 6 is a sectional view of the main body of the seat portion taken along line VI--VI in FIG. 4;

FIG. 7 is a front view showing the main body of a seat portion;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a base portion in this embodiment;

FIG. 9 is a front view showing a seat back in this embodiment;

FIG. 10 is a side view of the seat back;

FIG. 11 is a plan view of the seat back;

FIG. 12 is a side view schematically showing the protective seat of the embodiment in the folded state;

FIG. 13 is a front view schematically showing the protective seat of the embodiment in the folded state;

FIG. 14 illustrates an upper bracket in this embodiment, in which (a) is a plan view thereof and (b) an enlarged view of a locking hole;

FIG. 15 illustrates a lower bracket in this embodiment, in which (a) is a front view thereof and (b) a plan view;

FIG. 16 is an explanatory view for describing the spring characteristic of a torsion spring in this embodiment;

FIG. 17 illustrates an operating lever of a seat-back tilting control device in this embodiment, in which (a) is a side view thereof and (b) a front view;

FIG. 18 is a view showing a locking pin in this embodiment;

FIG. 19 illustrates a cam plate of the seat-back tilting control device in this embodiment, in which (a) is a plan view thereof and (b) a sectional view taken along line XIXB--XIXB in (a);

FIG. 20 illustrates the case of the seat-back tilting control device, in which (a) is a plan view thereof, (b) a plan view and (c) a side view;

FIG. 21 illustrates a pin cover of the seat-back tilting control device, in which (a) is a front view thereof and (b) a sectional view taken along line XXIB--XXIB in (a);

FIG. 22 is a view for describing the operation of the locking pin and cam plate in the seat-back tilting control device of this embodiment;

FIG. 23 illustrates a cover seat in this embodiment, in which (a) is a side view thereof and (b) a front view;

FIG. 24 is a view for describing the action of the cover seat;

FIG. 25 illustrates a belt guide in a shoulder-belt adjusting device of this embodiment, in which (a) is a front view, (b) a sectional view taken along line XVB--XVB in (a), and (c) a back view; and

FIG. 26 is a front view showing supporting means of the shoulder-belt adjusting device in this embodiment, with a portion thereof being cut away.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

An embodiment of the present invention will now be described with reference to the drawings.

As illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 3, an infant-restraining protective seat 1 according to the embodiment of this invention includes a seat portion 2 for seating an infant, a seat back 3 tiltably attached to the seat portion 2 for supporting the back of the infant, a seat-back tilting control device 4 for controlling tilting of the seat back 3, an infant seat belt device 5 for restraining the infant seated on the seat portion 2, and a shoulder-belt adjusting device 6 for adjusting the up-and-down position of a shoulder belt 5a in the infant seat belt device 5.

The seat portion 2 comprises a seat-portion body 7 and a base portion 8 supporting the seat-portion body 7. As illustrated in FIGS. 4 through 6, the seat-portion body 7 is constituted by a central portion 9 which directly seats the infant, and left and right side walls 10, 11 formed respectively on the left and right sides of the central portion 9. These components are formed as a unitary body consisting of a plastic shell. Formed in the forward part of the central portion 9 is a first recess 12 for accommodating a buckle 5d of the infant seat belt device 5, described later, and an operating lever 55 of the seat-back tilting control device 4, also described later. The first recess 12 is formed to have a guide hole 13 through which the operating lever 55 of the seat-back tilting control device 4 is passed. The guide hole 13 makes it possible for the operating lever 55 to be moved back and forth.

Formed across the middle of the central portion 9 in terms of the longitudinal direction thereof is a second recess 14 having a V-shaped cross section. As will be set forth later, the arrangement is such that a tongue 123 and buckle 124 of a passenger-restraining seat belt device installed at a vehicle seat 122 of a vehicle such as an automobile or airplane and used also for securing the infant-restraining protective seat 1 to the vehicle seat are situated within the second recess 14. Further, the rear part of the central portion 9 is provided with an infant seat-belt through-hole 15 through which the infant seat belt of the infant seat belt device 5 is passed, and with a pair of mounting screw holes 16, 17, which bracket the through-hole 15, through which screws for attaching a case 58 (the details of which will be described later) of the seat-back tilting control device 4 are passed.

The rear portions of the left and right side walls 10, 11 are formed to have respective turning support portions 18, 19, of substantially circular shape, at which turning portions of the control device 4 are supported. The turning support portions 18, 19 are provided at their centers with a turning-shaft through-hole 21 through which a turning shaft 20 for rotatably supporting the seat back 3 is passed, and at their rearward lower portions with a locking-pin through-hole 22 through which a locking pin 56 (the details of which will be described later) of the control device 4, which pin is for locking the seat back 3 at a set predetermined angular position, is passed.

As illustrated in FIG. 8, the base portion 8 also is formed of a plastic shell and is formed to have a prescribed number of mounting holes 27 into which screws for attaching the seat-portion body are tightly screwed. As shown in FIG. 2, the seat-portion body 7 is attached to a mounting portion 27 on the base portion 8 by means of screws 28.

As shown in FIGS. 9 through 11, the seat back 3 is constituted by a seat back portion 31 which directly supports the back of the seated infant, and left and right side walls 32, 33 provided respectively on the right and left sides of the seat back portion 31. These also consist of a plastic shell. The central portion of the seat back 31 is provided with a pair of vertically extending guide holes 34, 35 each having the shape of parallelogram. A cylindrical portion 107 of a guide constituting the belt guide 101 (the details of which will be described later) in the shoulder-belt adjusting device 6 is passed through the guide holes 34, 35. The arrangement is such that the belt guide 101 may be moved up and down while being guided in the guide holes 34, 35.

The back side of the seat back portion 31 on the side of the seat back 3 opposite that which supports the infant is integrally provided with a pair of brackets 36, 37, one above the other, which freely rotatably support a screw rod 103 (shown in FIGS. 1 and 2) in the shoulder-belt adjusting device 6. Furthermore, the left and right side walls 32 and 33 at portions near the seat back portion 31 are provided respectively with mounting portions 38, 39, 40 and 41, 42, 43 into which screws for attaching an upper bracket 50 (the details of which will be described later) of the seat-back tilting control device 4 are tightly screwed. Further, the back side of the seat back portion 31 is provided with brackets 44, 45 which laterally support a torque link 105 (illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2) in the shoulder-belt adjusting device 6.

The lower ends of the left and right side walls 32, 33 are formed to have respective turning support portions 46, 47, of substantially circular shape, in which turning portions of the seat-back control device 4 are accommodated and supported. The turning support portions 46, 47 are centrally provided with respective through-holes 48, 49 into each of which a projecting portion 125a on the central portion of a rotating shaft cover 125 (shown in FIG. 1), described later, is inserted.

As shown in FIG. 10, the left and right side walls 32, 33 of the seat back 3 have a width a the upper part of which is comparatively large. The size of the width is so set that the back side of the seat back 3 will be substantially parallel to the lower surface of the base portion 8 when edges 32a, 32b on the upper portions of the left and right side walls 32, 33 each contact the upper surface of the base portion 8 at such time that the seat back 3 is folded, as illustrated in FIG. 12.

The distance b (shown in FIG. 9 and 11) between the opposing inner sides of the left and right side walls 32, 33 of seat back 3 is designed to be larger than the width c (shown in FIG. 4) of the forward part of the seat-portion body 7 but smaller than the width d (shown in FIG. 4) of the rear part of seat-portion body 7. Accordingly, when the seat back 3 is folded, as depicted in FIG. 13, the forward part of the seat-portion body 7 is received between the inner sides of the left and right side walls 32, 33 of the seat back 3. As a result, the infant-restraining protective seat 1 becomes small and compact when folded.

The left and right side edges at the rear part of the seat-portion body 7 assume positions at which they are substantially flush with the left and right side walls 32, 33. More specifically, even though the distance b between the opposing inner sides of the left and right side walls 32, 33 is designed to be smaller than the width d of the rear part of seat-portion main body 7, left and right side edges 7b, 7c at the rear part of the seat-portion body 7 are situated in a space E (shown in FIG. 10) formed by the narrow portions of the left and right side walls 32, 33. Therefore, when the seat back 3 is folded, the left and right side edges 7b, 7c at the rear part of the seat-portion body 7 and the left and right side walls 32, 33 are capable of assuming positions where they are substantially flush.

As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the seat-back tilting control device 4 includes left and right upper brackets 50 attached respectively to the left and right side walls 32, 33, left and right lower brackets 51 attached respectively to the left and right side walls 10, 11 of the seat-portion body 7, a torsion spring 54 interposed between an upper hook pin 52 attached to the upper bracket 50 and a lower hook pin 53 attached to the lower bracket 51, an operating lever 55, the locking pin 56, a cam plate 57 for controlling movement of the locking pin 56 between a locking position and an unlocking position, a case 58 for slidably accommodating and supporting the locking pin 56 and the cam plate 57, a biasing spring 97 for constantly biasing the cam plate 57 in such a direction that the locking pin 56 assumes the locking position, and an operating-force transmitting link 59 connected between the operating lever 55 and the cam plate 57 for transmitting the operating force of the operating lever 55 to the cam plate 57 against the biasing force of the biasing spring 97.

As illustrated in FIG. 14, the upper bracket 50 has the shape of a flat plate and is constituted by an upper rectangular portion 50a and a lower circular portion 50b. The rectangular portion 50a is provided with three vertically aligned screw holes 60, 61, 62 through which screws for attaching the upper bracket 50 to the seat back are passed. Further, the rectangular portion 50a is provided with a through-hole 63 through which a turning shaft 104a of an operating knob 104 (shown in FIG. 1) of the shoulder-belt adjusting device 6 is passed so as to be capable of turning.

The circular portion 50b is provided with a hole 64 through which the turning shaft 20 is passed so as to be capable of turning relative the circular portion. Further, in order that the seat back 3 may be locked at any of three reclining angles, three locking holes 65, 66, 67 through which the locking pin 56 is passed are formed in the circular portion 50b on the circumference of a circle of a prescribed radius from the center of the hole 64. In order to lock the seat back 3 at the folded position, the circular portion 50b is provided with a locking hole 68, located on the same circumference as the locking holes 65, 66, 67, through which the locking pin 56 is passed. As shown in (b) of FIG. 14, each of the locking holes 65, 66, 67, 68 is elliptical in form, with the ellipse having a minor axis f and a major axis g. In this case, the minor axis f is set to have a size that allows the locking pin 56 to be passed through and slid along the hole with almost no gap between the pin 56 and the walls of the hole. Further, the locking holes 65, 66, 67, 68 are so arranged that the minor axis f of each hole lies in the circumferential direction of a circle concentric with the hole 64 while the major axis g of each hole lies in the diametric direction of the circle concentric with the hole 64. The circular portion 50 is further provided with a longitudinally extending guide slot 69. When guides 113, 114 of supporting means 102 (shown in FIG. 25) supporting the belt guide 101 move up and down, screw portions 113b, 114b of the respective guides 113, 114 are guided by the guide slot 69. The circular portion 50b is further provided with a hole 117 through which the upper hook pin 52 is passed and secured.

The portion in which the locking holes 65, 66, 67 for locking the seat back 3 at a prescribed reclining angle are formed is reinforced by a reinforcing member 70. The upper bracket 50 is formed to have a flange 50c along the edge of parts of the rectangular portion 50a and circular portion 50b. The rectangular portion 50a and circular portion 50b are formed to have reinforcing ribs 71, 72 by bending. The upper bracket 50 is reinforced by the reinforcing ribs 71, 72.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the upper bracket 50 is secured to the seat back 3 by passing screws through the screw holes 60, 61, 62 and screwing them into the mounting holes 38, 39, 40 of the seat back 3. With each upper bracket 50 thus secured to the seat back 3, play in the lateral direction is prevented.

As shown in (a) and (b) of FIG. 15, the lower bracket 51 is formed to have a semicircular portion 51a on its upper part, while its lower part is formed to have a mounting portion 51b fastened to the seat-portion body 7 by screws. The semicircular portion 51a has a centrally provided circular hole 73 through which the turning shaft 20 is passed. The semicircular portion 51a is further provided with a guide slot 74 along an arc concentric with the hole 73. The upper hook pin 52 is passed through the guide slot 74 and is turnably guided thereby when the seat back 3 is tilted. The lower bracket 51 includes also a hole 75 through which the locking pin 56 is slidably passed, and a hole 76 through which the lower hook pin 53 is passed and secured. In this case, the through-hole 75 is provided at such a position that the length of a line between the center of the hole 75 and the center of the hole 73 will be equal to the radius of the circle, which is centered on the hole 64, on which the locking holes 65, 66, 67 of upper bracket 50 are provided. The upper bracket 50 is secured to the seat-portion body 7 by screws (not shown).

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the turning shaft 20 is passed through the hole 73 of the lower bracket 51, which is secured to the seat-portion body 7, and is supported on the lower bracket 51, and the upper bracket 50 secured to the seat back 3 is situated on the outer side of the lower bracket 51 and is tiltably supported by passing the turning shaft 20 through the hole 64. In this case, the upper bracket 50 is prevented from falling off the turning shaft 20 by a retaining ring 77. A cover 78 of the turning shaft 20 is attached so as to cover the turning shaft 20 by fitting a projection 78a of the cover 78 into the through-hole 48 of the seat back 3 and screwing a screw into the end portion of the turning shaft 20. The upper hook pin 52 secured to the upper bracket 50 is passed through the guide slot 74 so as to extend to inner side of the lower bracket 51 and is situated between the turning support portions 18, 19 of the seat-portion body 7. In addition, the torsion spring 54 is interposed between the upper hook pin 52 and the lower hook pin 53 secured to the lower bracket 51. Thus, the seat back 3 is attached to the seat-portion body 7 so as to be capable of tilting about the turning shaft 20.

In this case, one of the locking holes 65, 66, 67, 68 of the upper bracket 50 registers with the through-hole 75 of the lower bracket 51 depending upon the angular position to which the seat back 3 has been tilted. The torsion spring 54 is designed so as to have the following spring characteristic: Specifically, the torsion spring 54 is designed so to assume a free state when the upper hook pin 52 (namely one end of the torsion spring 54) is at a position α in FIG. 16. At this position, therefore, the spring force which the torsion spring 54 applies to the seat back 3 is zero. Further, the torsion spring 54 is so designed that when the seat-portion body 7 is made horizontal with the upper hook pin 52 at position α, the seat back 3 will tilt forwardly in a first circumferential direction under its own weight, i.e., in the direction of a folded-state locking position β. Owing to the forward tilting motion of the seat back 3 under its own weight, the spring force of the torsion spring 54 gradually increases so that the shock of this forward tilting motion of the seat back 3 is mitigated by this spring force.

On the other hand, when the seat back 3 is tilted toward the rear in an opposite circumferential direction from the α position in order to be set at a desired reclining position, e.g., (δ or γ) the spring force of the torsion spring 54 acts upon the seat back 3 in a direction returning it to the α position, and the spring force grows in conformity with the rearward tilting of the seat back 3. Accordingly, with the locking pin 56 inserted into any one of the locking holes 65, 66, 67 to set the seat back 3 at a prescribed reclining angle, the spring force of the torsion spring 54 that restores the upper hook pin 52 to the α position becomes comparatively large. As a result of this spring force, the seat back 3 is biased in such a manner that the edge of the particular one of the locking holes 65, 66, 67 on the minor-axis side thereof comes into abutting contact with the locking pin 56 at all times. As a result, angular play of the seat back 3 in the back-and-forth direction in which the seat back is tilted is prevented.

Further, when reclining of the seat back 3 attempts to be set in a half-latched state in which the locking pin 56 is not completely inserted into any of the locking holes 65, 66, 67, the seat back 3 is tilted in the forward direction by the enlarged spring force of the torsion spring 54. Accordingly, half-latching of the seat back 3 when reclining of the seat back is being set is prevented in reliable fashion.

Thus, the torsion spring 54 is designed so as to have a shock-absorber function which mitigates the shock due to forward tilting motion of the seat back 3 under its own weight, a play-preventing function for preventing play when the seat back 3 is reclined, and a half-latching preventing function for preventing half-latching of the seat back 3 when reclining of the latter is set.

As shown in FIG. 17, the operating lever 55 includes an operating portion 55a arranged in the recess 12 of the seat-portion body 17 for actuating the operating lever 55, a penetration portion 55b which is passed through the guide hole 13, a support portion 55c for slidably supporting the operating lever 55 on the seat-portion body 17, and a connection portion 55d to which the operating-force transmitting link 59 is connected. The connecting portion 55d is provided with a hole 55e for fixing the link 59 that has been passed through the hole 55e.

As shown in FIG. 18, the locking pin 56 is formed from a round bar, one end of which is formed to have a cam follower 56a bent at a right angle. The cam follower 56a is fitted into cam slots 80, 81 (shown in FIG. 19) of the cam plate 57 and is moved by movement of the cam plate 57 while being guided by the cam slots 80, 81. The other end of the locking pin 56 is formed to have a locking portion 56b. Owing to movement of the locking pin 56 while it is being guided by the cam slots 80, 81, the locking portion 56b is passed through one of the locking holes 65, 66, 67, 68 of the upper bracket 50 and the through-hole 75 of the lower bracket 51 so as to lock the upper bracket 50 and the lower bracket 51. In this case, the other end of the locking pin 56 is provided with a chamfer A. The locking portion 56b is passed through the locking holes 65, 66, 67, 68 and the through-hole 75 more easily by virtue of the chamfer A.

As illustrated in FIG. 19, the cam plate 57 is formed substantially as a flat plate having a centrally provided comparatively large hole 79 extending in the longitudinal direction. In cam plate 57 as it appears in FIG. 19, the upper edge is formed to have the pair of cam slots 80, 81, which diverge from each other from the top down, into which the cam follower 56a of the locking pin 56 is inserted. The lower end of the cam plate 57 is provided with a hole 82 to which one end of the operating-force transmitting link 59 is connected, and with a hole 83 to which one end of the biasing spring 97 (shown in FIG. 2), which biases the cam plate 57 upward at all times as seen in FIG. 19, is connected. The left and right side edges and the upper edge of the cam plate 57 are formed to have a flange 57a. In particular, the flange portions of flange 57a that are formed on the right and left side edges of the cam plate 57 serve as guide portions 57b which come into abutting contact with a guiding surface 58d (shown in FIG. 20) of the case 58 so as to guide the cam plate 57 along this guiding surface.

As illustrated in (a) through (c) in FIG. 20, the case 58 is formed as a flat plate and has a main body 58a one side surface of which is provided with a pair of parallel upstanding side walls 58b, 58c extending in the longitudinal direction. As indicated by the phantom lines in (c) of FIG. 20, the cam plate 57 is disposed so as to be movable in the longitudinal direction of the case within a space delimited by the main body 58a and the two side walls 58b, 58c. In this case, the cam plate 57 moves while being guided along the guiding surface 58d of the main body 58a owing the fact that the guide portions 57b abut against the guiding surface 58d, and while being guided along the two side walls 58, 58c. Further, the one side surface of the main body 58a is provided with an upstanding projection 58e that mates with a projection 91 (shown in FIG. 21) on the pin cover 84.

The two side walls 58b, 58c are each provided with a locking-pin through-hole 85 through which the locking pin 56 is capable of being inserted. A pair of guides 86, 87 which guide the locking pin 56 are provided in an upstanding attitude, so as to correspond to the locking-pin through-holes 85, between the two side walls 58b, 58c on the one side face of the main body 58a. Guiding supports 88 for the locking pin 56, which supports have a semicircular recess the diameter of which is the same as that of the locking-pin through-hole 85, are provided on the outer side of the side walls 58b, 58c of the main body 58a. Mounting portions 89 to which the pin cover 84 is attached are provided on both sides of each of the guiding supports 88. Further, the other side surface of the main body 58a is provided with a mounting portion 90 for mounting the case 58 on the seat-portion body 7.

As illustrated in FIG. 21, the pin cover 84 is provided at the center of its main body 84a with the upstanding projection 91 formed to have a circular hole 92. The circular hole 92 mates with the projection 58e of the case 58, as mentioned above, whereby the case 58 and the pin cover 84 are positioned. The main body 84a is provided with a pair of guide slots 93, 94 in each of which is inserted the tip of the cam follower 56a of the locking pin 56 passed through the cam slots 80, 81. The cam follower 56a is capable of moving along the guide slots 93, 94.

Further, the left and right edges of the main body 84 are provided with guiding supports 95 for the locking pin 56, which supports have a semicircular recess the diameter of which is the same as that of the locking-pin through-holes 85. The recess of each guiding support 95 cooperates with the recess of the guiding support 88 in the case 58 so as to form a locking-pin through-hole the diameter of which is equal to that of the locking-pin through-hole 85 of case 58.

Accordingly, the locking pin 56 is guided by the guide slots 93, 94, the pair of guides 86, 87, the locking-pin through-hole 85 and the locking-pin through-hole formed by the recess of the guiding support 95 and the recess of the guiding support 88. As a result, movement of the locking pin 56 is reliable and smooth.

Mounting portions 96 are provided on both sides of each guiding support 95. By attaching the mounting portions 96 to the mounting portions 89 of the case 58, the pin cover 84 is attached to the case 58.

With the cam plate 57 and pin cover 84 installed in the case 58, the biasing spring 97 is compressed between the projection 92 of the pin cover 84 and the hole 83 of the cam plate 57, as depicted in FIG. 2. The biasing spring 97 constantly urges the cam plate 57 upward and diagonally to the left in FIG. 2 with respect to the case 58. Accordingly, in the ordinary state, the locking pin 56 is situated at the lowermost end of the diverging cam holes 80, 81 in FIG. 19(a).

As illustrated in FIG. 2, the operating-force transmitting link 59 has one end thereof connected to the hole 55e of the connecting portion 55d of operating lever 55. The other end of the link 59 is connected to the hole 82 of the cam plate 57. The operating-force transmitting lever 59 is capable of being formed from a conventional common force-transmitting link, such as a rod, an inner cable, an outer cable or a combination thereof, and an appropriate location along the link 59 is supported on the seat-portion body 7.

In the seat-back tilting control device 4 thus constructed, the cam follower 56a of the locking pin 56 ordinarily is set at the lowermost end of the cam slots 80, 81 by the biasing spring 97, as described above, and the locking pin 56 is projecting to the maximum degree. With the locking pin 56 in this state, as shown in FIG. 22, the locking portion 56b is fitted into any one of the locking holes 65, 66, 67, 68 and the through-hole 75. The locking pin 56 therefore is in the locking position. As a result, the seat back 3 is set at a prescribed reclining angle or in the folded position. When the cam plate 57 is moved downward in FIG. 22 by pulling the operating lever 5 forward, the cam follower 56a is guided by the cam slot 80, and therefore the locking pin 56 moves to the right. When the cam follower 56a is situated at the uppermost end of the cam slot 80, as indicated by the phantom lines, the locking portion 56b exits completely from one of the locking holes 65, 66, 67, 68 and from the through-hole 75, whereby the locking pin 56 assumes the unlocking position. As a result, the seat back 3 is free to tilt. Thus, in the present embodiment, the seat-back tilting control device 4 functions as both reclined-state locking means for locking the seat back 3 at a predetermined reclining angle and folded-state locking means for locking the seat back 3 in the folded position.

The infant seat belt device 5 includes left and right shoulder belts 5a, a chest-contact pad 5b connected to the shoulder belts 5a, a tongue 5c attached to the lower end of the chest-contact pad 5b, the buckle 5d with which the tongue 5c locks, and a retractor 5e for taking up a webbing, which unites the left and right shoulder belts 5a into a single body, through the back of the seat back 3. The infant seat belt device 5 is substantially identical with that of the prior art.

As depicted in FIGS. 1 and 2, a cover seat 98 is supported on the turning shaft 20, which tiltably supports the seat back 3 relative to the seat portion 2, so as to be capable of tilting between the position indicated by the solid line and the position indicated by the phantom line in FIG. 2, the cover seat 98 being situated between the left and right lower brackets 51. As illustrated in FIG. 23, the cover seat 98 has a curving main body 98a the upper surface of which defines a seat surface 98b for seating an infant. The lower surface of the main body 98a is provided with a predetermined number of ribs 98c. The ribs 98c, which are formed to be identical in shape, have a rectangular first projection 98d and a triangular second projection 98e. The upper end of the cover seat 98 is provided with a hole 98h into which the turning shaft is loosely fitted.

The cover seat 98 is formed in such a manner that when it is at the position indicated by the solid line in FIG. 2, it will cover the second recess of the seat-portion body 7 and cooperate with the seat surface 7a at the forward part of the seat-portion body 7 and a seat-back surface 31a of the seat back portion 31, which constitutes the seat back 3, to render continuous the seat surface of the protective seat 1 and the surface of the seat back. As a result, the infant can be seated safely and reliably. In this case, as illustrated in FIG. 2, a tip 98f of the first projection 98d comes into abutting contact with one inclined surface of the V-shaped second recess 14, and an oblique end 98g of the second projection 98e comes into abutting contact with the other inclined surface of the second recess 14. As a result, the weight of the seated infant is reliably supported on the seat-portion body 7 via the ribs 98c.

When the cover seat 98 is at the position indicated by the phantom line in FIG. 2, on the other hand, it opens the second recess 14 of the seat-portion body 7. As result, when the protective seat 1 is attached to and detached from a vehicle seat, as shown in FIG. 24, the operation for fastening and unfastening of the tongue 123 and buckle 124 of the seat belt device, which is installed at the vehicle seat and situated in the second recess 14, can be performed easily from above the front of the protective seat 1 (i.e., from the direction of arrow B). In particular, when it is difficult to secure the protective seat 1 to the vehicle seat from the sides of the vehicle seat whose width is only slightly larger than the width of the protective seat 1, as in a vehicle seat both sides of which have wings or arm rests, the operation for attaching and detaching the protective seat is greatly simplified.

As illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, the shoulder-belt adjusting device 6 includes the belt guide 101 for guiding the shoulder belts of the infant seat belt in such a manner that the position of the shoulder belts can be adjusted up or down, the supporting means 102 for supporting the belt guide 101, the vertically extending screw shaft 103 for moving the supporting means 102 up and down, the operating knob 104 turnably attached to one of the left and right side walls 32, 33 (the left side wall 33 in the example illustrated) of the seat back 3, and the torque link 105 which connects the operating knob 104 and the screw shaft 103 while producing a right-angle change in direction, and which transmits the rotational torque of the operating knob 104 to the screw shaft 103. The torque link 105 is capable of being formed of a resilient torque link used generally in the prior art.

As depicted in FIG. 25, the belt guide 101 has a main body 101a comprising an elongated flat plate having the shape of a parallelogram. The main body 101a has a slot 106, which is provided substantially at the middle thereof, through which the shoulder belt of the infant seat belt is slidably passed, and is integrally formed to have a cylindrical portion 107 extending from one side of the main body 101 to the other side thereof. Furthermore, one end of the cylindrical portion 103 is formed to have a flange 104. The other end of the cylindrical portion 107 is provided with a grip portion 110 which grips a cylindrical member 109 of the supporting means 102.

As indicated by the phantom line in FIG. 3, the seat cover 111 is attached to the seat back 3 via a cushion 112. The seat cover 111 and the cushion 112 are formed to have holes of the same shape as the guide slots 34, 35 at positions corresponding to the guide slots 34, 35 of the seat back 3. The cylindrical portion 107 between the main body 101a and the flange 108 slidably penetrates these holes in the cover 111 and cushion 112. Accordingly, the cover 111 and the cushion 112 are situated between the main body 101a and the flange 108.

The main body 101a on the side of the grip portion 110 is in abutting contact with the seat back 31 of the seat back, as shown in FIG. 3, and the belt guide 101 is capable of sliding along the main body 101a. Further, the cylindrical portion 107 between the main body 101a and the grip portion 110 is passed through the guide slots 34, 35 and is capable of sliding while being guided by the guide slots 34, 35. Accordingly, the belt guide 101 is capable of moving between an upper-limit position (the position at which the slot 106 is indicated by the solid line) C at which the cylindrical portion 107 abuts against the upper end of the guide slots 34, 35, and a lower-limit position (the position at which the slot 106 is indicated by the phantom line) D at which the cylindrical portion 107 abuts against the lower end of the guide slots 34, 35.

In this case, the main body 101a is designed to have such a size that the guide slots 34, 35 and the holes in the cover 111 and cushion 112 can be closed even when the cylindrical portion 107 of the belt guide 101 is situated at a position between the upper-limit position and the lower-limit position. The external shape of the flange 108 is formed to be larger than that of the guide slots 34, 35, and therefore the cover 111 and cushion 112 may be easily detached from between the flange 108 and main body 101a.

The supporting means 102 includes the cylindrical member 109 and guides 113, 114 fixedly secured to the left and right ends of the cylindrical member 109, as illustrated in FIG. 26. The central part of the cylindrical member 109 is formed to have female threads that are threadedly engaged by the screw shaft 103, and holes 109b, 109c, through which bolts for securing the grip portion 110 of the belt guide 101 are passed, are provided in the cylindrical member on both sides of the female threads 109a. The guides 113, 114 respectively comprise disk-shaped guide portions 113a, 114a and screw portions 113b, 114b upstanding from the centers of the guides. The guides 113, 114 are screwed respectively into closing members 115, 116 secured in the two ends of the cylindrical member 109 so as to form prescribed gaps h, whereby the guides 113, 114 are fixed to the cylindrical member 109.

The screw portions 113b, 114b of the respective guides 113, 114 are passed through the guide slots 69 of the upper brackets 50 secured to the left and right side walls of the seat back 3, and the upper brackets 50 are situated in the gaps h so that the supporting means 102 is attached so as to be movable up and down while being guided by the guide slot 69. A laterally directed force, a longitudinally directed force and moments about these directions acting upon the cylindrical portion 109 are supported by the upper brackets 50.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the screw shaft 103 is threadedly engaged with the female threads 109a of the cylindrical member 109, and the upper and lower ends of the screw shaft 103 are supported respectively by the brackets 36, 37 of the seat back 3. With regard to the bracket 36 on the upper side in this case, the upper end of the screw shaft 103 is supported so as to be capable solely of rotation in the free state in the thrust direction. With regard to the bracket on the lower side, the lower end of the screw shaft 103 is supported so as to be capable of rotation in the supported state in the thrust direction. Accordingly, the up-and-down force which acts upon the cylindrical member 109 is supported by the bracket 37 on the lower side via the screw shaft 103 and is not supported by the bracket 36 on the upper side. As a result, though it is necessary for the bracket 37 on the lower side to be made comparatively large for reasons of strength, it will suffice if the bracket 36 on the upper side is comparatively small. This means that although the seat back 3 is tilted back when the protective seat 1 is in use, as shown in FIG. 2, the amount of projection of the protective seat 1 to the rear is small owing to the fact that the upper bracket 36 is small. Accordingly, when the protective seat is secured to the seat of the vehicle, the seat 1 is prevented from being secured to far forward relative to the vehicle seat. By virtue of this feature, the body of the infant can be kept a greater distance away from the parts of the vehicle in front of the seat, and the protective seat 1 can be secured to the vehicle seat more stably and reliably.

As shown in FIG. 1, one end of the torque link 105 is connected to the lower end of the screw shaft 103 in such a manner that it is incapable of rotating relative to the screw shaft 103. The torque link 105 is bent at right angles from the vertical direction and extends to the left, and the other end thereof is rotatably supported on the bracket 44 secured to the seat back 3. This end of the torque link 105 serves as a connecting portion 105a formed to have an angular cross section. The connecting portion 105a is directed leftward in reliable fashion by the bracket 44.

The operating knob 104 is turnably attached to the left side wall 32 of the seat back 3 at a position opposing the connecting portion 105a of the torque link 105. In this case, the operating knob 104 is capable of being attached and detached to and from the left side wall 32 by a force greater than a prescribed value. The end portion of the turning shaft 104a of the operating knob 104 is provided with a hole 104b the sectional shape of which is similar to but somewhat larger than the sectional shape of the connecting portion 105a of torque link 105. Accordingly, when the operating knob 104 is inserted into and attached to the left side wall 32, the connecting portion 105a is fitted into the hole 104b, as a result of which the turning shaft 104a and connecting portion 105a are connected to make only rotation impossible. In this case, the turning shaft 104a is guided by a guide 118, and therefore the turning shaft 104a and connecting portion 105a are capable of being connected easily and reliably.

As shown in FIG. 1, the supporting means 102, screw shaft 103 and torque link 105 are covered by the cover 126.

In the case of this embodiment, the operating knob 104 is disposed on the left side wall 32. By adopting this arrangement, the amount of rearward projection of the seat back 3 is reduced in comparison with a case in which the operating knob 32 is provided on the upper portion of the seat back 3. Accordingly, when the infant-restraining protective seat 1 is secured to a vehicle seat, the protective seat 1 is prevented from being secured too far forward relative to the vehicle seat, just as described above. Though the operating knob 104 is disposed on the left side wall 32 in this embodiment, the operating knob 104 can be disposed on the right side wall 33 if desired.

When the operating knob 104 is turned in the shoulder-belt adjusting device 6 thus constructed, the rotational torque is transmitted to the screw shaft 103 via the torque link 105, whereby the screw shaft 103 is turned. Turning the screw shaft 103 in one direction lowers the belt guide 101, whereas turning the screw shaft 103 in the other direction raises the belt guide 101. Thus, the position of the shoulder belts of the infant seat belt device can be continuously adjusted up and down.

In accordance with the infant-restraining protective seat according to the first aspect of the present invention, as evident from the foregoing description, the seat portion for seating the infant and the seat back for supporting the back of the seated infant are capable of being folded. When the infant-restraining protective seat is not in use, the protective seat can be reduced in size by folding the seat portion and the seat back. Accordingly, the protective seat can be carried about and set up on the seat of a vehicle much more easily. In addition, only a small amount of space is necessary for storage.

Further, the seat back is capable of folding under its own weight, and the shock of the forward tilting motion of the seat back is capable of being mitigated by the torsion spring.

In accordance with the second aspect of the invention, a spring force produced by the spring acts upon the seat back in a restoring direction when the seat back has been locked at the prescribed reclining angle. As a result, play of the seat back in the back-and-forth tilting direction can be prevented. Furthermore, a half-latched state in which the locking pin has not been completely inserted into the locking hole is reliably prevented by the spring force of the torsion spring when the seat back is set in a reclined attitude.

As many apparently widely different embodiments of the present invention can be made without departing from the spirit and scope thereof, it is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the specific embodiments thereof except as defined in the appended claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. An infant-restraining protective seat comprising:a seat portion for seating an infant; a seat back for supporting the back of the seated infant; infant restraining means for restraining and protecting the seated infant; said seat back being tiltably attached to said seat portion, and said seat portion and seat back being adapted so as to be foldable; and a torsion spring being interposed between said seat portion and said seat back; said torsion spring being constructed so as to be capable of assuming a plurality of circumferential positions including a free state position where said torsion spring exerts zero spring force in either a first or opposite circumferential direction, wherein when said torsion spring is in said free state position, said seat back is capable of tilting forward to a folding position in a first circumferential direction under its own weight, when said seat portion is in a substantially horizontal attitude; wherein as said seat back is tilted forward under its own weight from said free state position to said folding position, said torsion spring exerts a spring force to said seat back in said opposite circumferential direction so as to mitigate an impact upon reaching said folding position due to said forward tilting motion of said seat back under its own weight; and wherein as said seat back is tilted backward in said opposite circumferential direction from said free state position to at least one reclining position, said torsion spring exerts a spring force to said seat back in said first circumferential direction.
 2. The protective seat according to claim 1, further comprising locking means for locking said seat back at a prescribed backward tilt angle corresponding to one of said at least one reclining position, said locking means having a through-hole provided in said seat portion, at least one locking hole provided in said seat back so as to correspond to a respective prescribed backward tilt angle, and a locking pin that is passed through said through-hole and said at least one locking hole.
 3. The protective seat according to claim 1, wherein said torsion spring is constructed so as to increase said spring force exerted on said seat back as said torsion spring moves away from said free state position in either said first or opposite circumferential directions.
 4. The protective seat according to claim 2, wherein said locking pin is biased, due to said spring force exerted on said seat back in said first circumferential direction, against an edge of a respective locking hole when extending therethrough so as to reduce angular movement of said seat back when said torsion spring is in said at least one reclining position.
 5. The protective seat according to claim 2, wherein when said torsion spring is in said at least one reclining position and said locking pin is not fully inserted within a respective locking hole, said spring force tilts said seat back in said first circumferential direction so as to avoid half-latching of said seat back. 